


Fear (me.)

by Anonymous



Series: Random ATEEZ stuff. [6]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Child Abuse, Ghosts, Minor Character Death, Other, Platonic Relationships, monsters under the bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25855885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Stay scared.They may someday protect you from the real monsters.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: Random ATEEZ stuff. [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2092467
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50
Collections: Anonymous





	Fear (me.)

**Author's Note:**

> So I was talking with my friend about how I don't have any motivation or inspiration to write anything and she just sent me screenshots of prompts she found on google and there was this one that caught my attention.
> 
> I don't remember exactly what it said but it was something like "a child is kidnapped and the monsters in their room vow to find them" or idk and this just came out naturally. I wrote this in like 30 minutes lmao. Also the summary is so shitty I literally did not think of a summary so I'm sorry. Also English is not my first language so :]
> 
> I just hope it's not too bad!

It was the third day already.

Seonghwa stood behind the closed door of the closet, gloomy, dead serious. He could see little Jongho's mother pacing around the room, a hand over her mouth to muffle her cries.

He looked at Hongjoong under the bed. His black hair was falling over his eyes like a curtain of darkness and his rosy lips were deformed into a scowl. Yeosang, behind the baby blue curtain, watched the mom with morbid joy. Seonghwa frowned slightly as his eyes found Yeosang's. Deep black against bright blue.

Yeosang smiled a little, his unblinking eyes focusing back on the mom. He wasn't the one Jongho feared the most for nothing.

Mingi was pouting behind the door, (he used to be Jongho's favorite, until some boys at school told him that they feared the monsters in their rooms and that he should, too.)

Because Seonghwa was that irrational fear that invaded Jongho every time he opened his closet to get a shirt, while Hongjoong was the ghostlike grip in Jongho's foot, the creator of that one thought crossing Jongho's mind _(feet or arms dangling off the bed? Nope. Not an option.)_

Closing the door was impossible these days because of the tall figure behind it. Mingi didn't dare showing more than the upper part of his face, as he feared that he would scare Jongho even more. Funnily enough, his eyes were exactly what kept Jongho from closing the door. He feared that the rest of the monster's body would be scarier than his bright yellow eyes.

Going near the window was also off limits. Yeosang was creepy enough just standing there, letting the curtain show Jongho an unmoving silhouette behind it.

Yunho was on his obscure corner of the room, tall as a tree, somber, saddened by the absence of the child he was supposed to scare to near death. Seonghwa couldn't blame him.

Without Jongho they were nothing but shadows and sensations grown ups chose to ignore. It was boring, not being acknowledged and all.

Seonghwa knew of the existence of someone called San. He was, apparently, the one thing that gave Jongho chills every time he sat at the table with his parents, the reason why Jongho checked under the table to feel safe.

There was also Wooyoung in the bathroom. Fairly tall, black hair, vicious, strong.

He was the one that even scared Jongho's parents sometimes. He was the shadow that made them double check the mirror, the fear of what stood behind the plastic blue curtain, the one that made them slip out of pure discomfort and nervousness.

They felt watched and with good reason. They were surrounded by the monsters they unknowingly created.

Seonghwa was the oldest fear.

When Jongho was three years old, his little cousin had told him about the monster in her closet and Jongho had started to side glance at his own closet every night. Seonghwa had been in there since then. Hongjoong was the second oldest fear, he had been there ever since one of Jongho's friends had decided to hide under the bed, scaring Jongho so much that he had started crying.

Yunho appeared after Jongho had watched an horror movie with his dad, while Mingi was the product of a violent video game that had bright eyed, homicidal monsters that Jongho had so wisely insisted on playing.

Now, don't ask Seonghwa why a six year old had been already exposed to so much crap. He was just a fear.

He was absolutely ignorant of the story behind San, Wooyoung and Yeosang.

Jongho had been kidnapped. Had gone out with his mom to have a playdate at the park and never came back.

Three days of being just shadows.

Even Wooyoung was feeling the effects of the situation. Jongho's parents were too busy crying and worrying to pay attention to him and Seonghwa could see him standing by the door, eyes glaring and body tense. He was tired of being ignored. Seonghwa thought he understood the feeling.

And just like that _(blink and you miss it)_ Mingi was gone.

It was the fifth day.

Yunho's long face was so somber that you could only see his soft eyes, his pitch black skin blending in with the shadows.

And Mingi was still pouting behind the door. Until he wasn't anymore.

Even Yeosang's eyes had lost their joyous glint for a moment.

They were dying, there was no one to acknowledge their existence.

Hongjoong's skin was becoming paler, he was moving less and Seonghwa knew that he thought no one could see his trembling fingers.

Yeosang seemed to be just fine, as if he fed from the parents' misery. Seonghwa didn't know much about Yeosang but he sure knew that he didn't like him. Not one bit.

Seonghwa sank deeper into the darkness as the mother left the room. He kind of missed the kid, because the only thing that made Seonghwa happier than giving him cold sweat, was to see him run and smile so freely, without a care in the world.

He loved the contrast between a scared six year old and a smiley six year old. It made him think of the power he had over Jongho.  
Seonghwa liked the word power.

He looked down under the bed, finding two dark eyes already staring into his dead eyes. Seonghwa didn't find the strength to smirk teasingly at Hongjoong. The fear under Jongho's bed opened his mouth and a cold breath left him, his lips were of a dead rosy color.

For a moment, Seonghwa thought that Hongjoong was going to be the first one to ever speak but Hongjoong's lips sealed themselves and the fear closed his eyes, clutching his trembling fingers to his chest.

Just like that _(blink and you miss it)_ Hongjoong was gone.

Seonghwa's breath got stuck in his dry throat as he surged forward, his arms trembling dangerously as he desperately looked for Hongjoong. His arm stretched out of the closet as he tried to reach the bed. An uncomfortable feeling crashed into him like a wave, he swallowed down the dust and sank back into the darkness.

His fingers began to tremble shortly after.

-

Hongjoong understood now.  
It was fairly obvious, really. People carried their fears with them like a heavy backpack. Wherever Jongho went, Hongjoong was going right after him.

He looked to the left when a man entered the little dirty room to leave two plates of food on the floor. As he got out without a word, Hongjoong saw Mingi standing behind the door, eyes bright, unblinking, focused on the newly arrived fear under one of the two dirty beds.

Hongjoong could hear Jongho's stuttering breath and saw a kid, not older than maybe twelve, walk towards the plates, carefully taking them off the floor and whispering about Jongho having to eat something after the beating he had taken earlier.

Hongjoong's eyes narrowed. He looked at Mingi and the scowl on his lips, the utter anger in his usually soft eyes told Hongjoong that maybe he knew exactly what the kid was talking about.

“But they need us alive, Jongho. I’m sure they won't hurt us again- I- I'll protect you, okay?”

Right. The kid sounded so scared, he might as well just be a soft bag of _fear._

Hongjoong was feeding well off Jongho's fear and he couldn't help but think about what would happen if Jongho died. His fingers began to quiver yet again.

They needed Jongho _alive, scared, breathing_.

The kid pulled his legs up to his chest as he continued to eat.

He wasn't normally afraid of freaking monsters under the bed (he had seen things horrible enough for him to fear people more than any monster) but the room got colder, an ugly feeling invading him, making him glance at the shadow of the bed.

The shadow seemed to only get darker.

-

Seonghwa could swear that he only looked at Yeosang for a second and then, Yunho was gone.

Seonghwa could feel himself becoming nothing but shadows. He felt it. The emptiness, the cold, the huge load of nothingness.

And he was scared.

He thought it was natural. Even fears feared death. And yes, he knew that Jongho would grow up. They would disappear one day, eventually.

Not now.

He missed feeling powerful, missed Mingi's smiles and Yunho's soft eyes, the way he would feel so understood with just one look of Hongjoong's bright eyes. He missed how powerful they were together.

The door of the closet opened slowly and, instead of seeing the mother's swollen red eyes, he saw Yeosang.

He was standing there, the smug bastard. How could he even leave his spot by the window? Seonghwa had tried in the past, it was nearly impossible.

“You see…” he said, low.

His voice was raw and hearing him for the first time gave Seonghwa a taste of what death felt like. Seonghwa sank deeper into the darkness, looking for an illusion of comfort.

“I am a ghost, not a fear”

Seonghwa gulped. Yeosang smirked.

“I died here a couple of years ago- well, more than a couple but you get what I’m saying. I was by the window when my mother strangled me with her red curtains. My brother, Wooyoung, was fighting with dad when he slipped and hit his head on the edge of the sink. Dad let him bleed out on the floor.”

He looked away, his eyes becoming regretful for a second.

“And San. Sanie…we used to call him that before dad decided that he was too soft, that he needed to become a man. And quickly.”

He chuckled.

“You don’t cover the sun with a single finger. It'll just…shine right through you.”

Seonghwa frowned.

“They used to host parties for dad's friends and everyone knew that, while Wooyoung and I were practicing with dad's guns, Sanie was picking up flowers and trying to help old ladies cross the street. He was twelve when dad began to hide him on a wood box. It used to be right where the family eats now.”

“Which is ironic, considering that he died because dad forgot that he needed food to survive.”

Seonghwa narrowed his eyes. Where the fuck where his two brothers?

“Good question. I wish I hadn't been a coward, but dad had the key with him at all times and fighting the old man was off limits…until we buried San. That day, we fought so harshly that they ended up killing us. Which was a wise decision, actually. I was planning on torturing the compassion out of them, to see if they could show any to us.”

Yeosang shrugged.

“They died a calm death. They didn't think of us, didn't regret anything and that's why I am bound to this house. My soul was and still is mainly full of rage, it's not at peace.”

Seonghwa didn't really know what to think. Why was Yeosang telling him that? To him?

“Also a good question. You're not dying, you're moving out of this shitty closet. Somewhere, that kid is alive and scared of a closet, a dark corner and the shadow behind the door- he must have a bed. I don't know if you noticed but your lover is gone, too.”

Yeosang opened the door a little more, letting Seonghwa see Wooyoung and San.

They fell on their knees with a scary synchroniciation, their hands joined and expressions peaceful.

“Go with the kid, we'll scare the parents real good in your absence.”

San, who was in the middle, smiled a bit, showing adorable dimples. Seonghwa had the feeling that San's smile, at some point in time, had brought comfort and happiness to those who saw it.

Now, Seonghwa felt chills go up his body.

He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he was in a strange place. It was small and dark, he could easily feel Mingi, Hongjoong and Yunho close to him. Closer than they had ever been.

The tiny space he had taken over was dirty, but so dark and- oh.

Oh.

He could feel Jongho's fear, hear his rapid heartbeats. It was intense. There must've been a monster around that was much more powerful than him.

Seonghwa did not like it.

The single door of the tiny closet opened and a kid stuck a trembling hand in, grabbing what looked like an old white sweater. He left the door open.

Then Seonghwa saw the other fears, a boy and Jongho sitting on the bed, speaking softly. They were trying to comfort each other. Seonghwa's eyes found Hongjoong's and the fear under the bed smiled softly.

He was angry.

Seonghwa could see it in the darkness of his eyes, could feel it in the shadows they now seemed to share.

Hongjoong was so angry that he was the first of the first to try and communicate with something other than meaningful looks.

He mouthed a word. And, good lord, Seonghwa was terrible at that game.

Hongjoong's eyes became sharper as his smile faded and he moved to lay on his stomach, slowly crawling out of his usual spot. Seonghwa's breath for stuck in his body, maybe he had just swallowed his own tongue.

Hongjoong was angry. Angry enough to power through the uncomfortable, unbearable feeling of leaving his place.

_(…powerless.)_

Seonghwa frowned slightly, which seemed to encourage Hongjoong to mouth the words a second time.

_(…powerless.)_

What did Hongjoong exactly mean by that? They certainly weren't powerless. Maybe the situation wasn't the best but Hongjoong couldn't really say they were powerless, all while crawling his way to Seonghwa's little dirty closet.

_(We are not powerless)_ he mouthed again.

They certainly weren't. Seonghwa nodded in agreement.

_(We must protect him.)_

Seonghwa almost didn't remember Jongho and as he looked over at the child on one of the beds, seeing his purple cheek and swollen eyes, his dirty clothes and just how…dead he already looked. It served to remind Seonghwa just how important the child was for them.

That's a good reason to be angry, he thought as his eyes found Hongjoong's darker ones.

_(Indeed.)_

The door opened abruptly and they didn't miss the wince of the man as he did a double take under the bed, almost as he had seen a man under it, almost as if he could just see two murderous eyes focused on him. Weirded out by the fear and the two unaware children on the beds, he quickly left two plates on the floor and ran out.

Seonghwa, with his eyes wide open and a smile already forming on his lips, looked at Hongjoong and found that the fear under he bed was already smirking slightly at him.

_(Wow, you really just did **that**?)_

_(I really did.)_

The older kid shut the door of the closet, because there was just something in there scaring Jongho. Seonghwa thought he could've laughed, because he knew he was too powerful to be hidden behind a simple door.

The joy he felt in that moment was just out of that world.

-

The first time somebody was actually scared to death, was when a man had stormed in the room, convinced that the two starving kids had somehow managed contacted the police.

Yelling like crazy about how close they were to getting caught, he slapped the older kid and his rage filled eyes focused on poor little Jongho, who was shivering on one of the corners of the room, already crying quietly.

The man approached him, his steps loud and clear.

Thing is, that just happened to be Yunho's corner and Yunho just happened to be very fond of the child.

What seemed to be a tall man just appeared in front of the child, shielding him. His skin was pale, his hair black but somehow not darker than his eyes. His eyes, that seemed to be endless doors to nothingness, were what gave the man such a fright, such a scare that his heart stopped beating.

The dark room was dead silent for a second, until the older kid found the strength to let out the most heartbreaking scream, staring at the fear in front of Jongho with wide eyes. The kid had half the mind to run out of the room, taking advantage of the fact that the man had left the door open.

Which later proved to be a horrible idea, as Jongho winced at the sound of a gunshot.

Yunho turned around slowly and knelt in front of Jongho. The child flinched away. Hongjoong crawled out from under the bed, mouthing the words _(it's okay.)_

They left the room. Mingi was holding Jongho's hand tightly.

There were men with guns out there, but none of them were strong enough to see the four fears and not run away. Plenty of them were still scared of the dark and that was enough for the fears to feed on.

The child walked into a police station on his own, because the fears had decided that freaking out the people that could really help Jongho was really not an option.

Jongho returned home.

But he wasn't the same anymore. For starters, he wasn't scared of them.

He felt safe with them.

The only reason they were still there was because Jongho was scared of plenty of other things. He was scared of older men, of being alone. He flinched every time his parents unintentionally moved too abruptly, too suddenly. And Seonghwa found that it was enough to keep them in their place.

Every night, when the lights were off and Jongho woke up from yet another nightmare, he would find Mingi's eyes in the darkness and let out a sigh of relief.

So, if you're scared of the monsters under your bed or in your closet, behind the door or in the dark corner of your room, then stay scared. Keep them well fed.

They may someday protect you from the real monsters.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Have a nice day/night and take care! :D
> 
> Ps: if you find that I missed any tags, please kindly let me know!


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